Monday 21 January 2013

WAR IRON - The Fifth And Final Sun Review


The Fifth And Final Sun cover art

War Iron is a Sludge Metal Band from Belfast, Ireland

The members are:

Marty - Drums
Baggy - Vocals
Ross - Bass
Dave - Bass

War Iron have been forging quite a reputation recently for their own brutal take of Sludge/Doom Metal. They are a band who have impressed us here with their bleak outlook on things. This is a band forged on depression and darkness and it shows in their excellent new album – The Fifth And Final Sun.

4 tracks running for 40 of the bleakest minutes we have heard in 2013 so far. If your looking for a Sludge Metal band to impress you with riff after riff well it’s time to move on. War Iron play slow-paced sludge metal full of despair, agony and gloomy based madness lurking amongst the atmosphere.

Trying to decipher what vocalist Baggy is actually saying is a mission in itself. As he gives no clues away into what he is actually singing about. Though this does not matter as the pitch perfect tones of the vocals match the subtlety of the music on show.

All of the tracks follow the same template – Bleak, slow, down-tempo riffs and vocals to tear away at your very own sanity. It might feel I am giving this album a bad vibe, but I am not. It’s actually a great album but you have to be in the right mood to listen to it. It’s not the most happiest of times and the 40 mins could test even the most ardent of listeners.

But I love Sludge Metal albums like this as its music at it’s angriest and at it’s most raw. The album is very rough around the edges but it matches the mood that War Iron deliver through out the entire album. The album has a sublime animalistic tone behind it that is very impossible to ignore.

War Iron don’t care about fitting into a certain style of scene. They just want to play their style of great music even though it doesn’t make for comfortable listening. But when has Sludge Metal ever been about conforming to rules and conventions. War Iron only answer to themselves and its determination and vision why we are big fans of this great band.

Songs range from 7 mins in length to a brilliant epic 14 minutes plus. And it’s the 14 minutes plus epic track – Black Fleet – where they show some superb creativity. Blending French speaking newsreels with a thumping bass line to set up the eerie scene. Black Fleet shows you what this band is all about. Epic nightmarish riffs with more top-notch bleak based vocals.

A thrilling and amazing track from a truly startling album that will find many fans within the scene. The Fifth And Final Son is a triumph on all counts and one album that I will definitely be coming back to time and time again. As there will be plenty of times that I will be in the right mood this superb album.

War Iron are a band that deserve your attention now. If you’re a fan of Thou then seriously need to check these guys out now.

Awesome and Highly Recommended.

The Fifth And Final Son is out to buy from BandCamp on both Physical Cassette and Digital Versions on 5th Feb 2013 via Tartarus Records

Check This Great Band Below:

Official